Abstract:

Along with China’s socioeconomic transformation， the urban residential space in the metropolitan areas is under restructuring and differentiation. Taking Shanghai as an example， the authors report the following in the present paper： first， a description of the patterns and causes of space differentiation in Shanghai’s commercial residential units； second， an examination of the trends in the residential space differentiation at the macro， meso， and micro levels； third， a discussion of the social effects of such differentiation； and finally， a speculation of the developmental trend in the restructuring and differentiation of the residential space in the metropolitan areas of China.

Key words: residential space differentiation, developmental trend, negative social externality, Shanghai